Register



May 6, 1952 c. H. H. RODANET REGISTER Filed Dec. 3, 1951 Patented May 6, 1952 REGISTER Charles Hilaire Henri Rodanet, NeuiIly-sur-Seine,

France, assignor to Societe Anonyme, Etablissements Ed. Jaeger, Levallois-Perret, France Application December 3, 1951, Serial No. 259,520 In France November 14, 1950 3 Claims. 1

Some existing registering devices used in odometers, such as motor vehicle meters for example, include a trip indicating device and a total indicating device consisting of drums arranged on the same fixed axle and driven, owing to the frictional stresses exerted between their adjacent faces, by a driving pinion, carried by said axle, through rings fitted fast to same axle. Such drums, on the outside cylindrical surface of which the digits are traced, are usually provided on their faces, on the one hand, with a ratchet having ten teeth and, on the other hand, with a single tooth, so that the single tooth of one drum and the ten teeth of the adjacent drum may work in combination through a suitable locking system.

In a particular embodiment as described in the applicants U. S. Patent No. 1,695,663. filed July 21, 1927, each drum is formed by an assembly of two discs similarly pressed in the shape of bowls, the outer ledge of each bowl being cut out so as to obtain either a ratchet having teeth or a single tooth, the locking system consisting in wire springs bent in the shape of hair-pins the loop 01' which comes in-between the single tooth of a drum and one of the ten teeth of the adjacent drum. The single tooth. at the moment of carrying over, lifts said spring loop so that the teeth of the adjacent drum are unlocked and said drum is free to be driven to the extent of one division through the frictional stress which permanently urges it to turn. In such an embodiment, when the registering device is mounted in a badly suspended vehicle, such as a lorry, a motorcycle, or other, it may happen that the drums when unlocked will be rotated backwards owing to the rough iolts which shake the re istering device as the vehicle is running. whereby said device would give inaccurate readings.

With a view to overcome such drawback, the present invention has for main object to provide a register of the above specified kind, wherein the ratchet having ten teeth which cooperates with the corresponding resilient pawl is the only locking means, the single tooth being used solely for unlocking purposes.

According to a preferred embodiment, each drum is formed by an assembly of two discs similarly pressed in the shape of bowls, the outer ledge of one bowl carrying the single unlocking tooth, while the ledge of the other bowl carries a ratchet having ten teeth, said teeth being cut out in the general shape of a U with radially extending sides and a bottom substantially tangent to a circle concentric with the corresponding bowl, thepawls being formed by a comb-shap member each tooth of which terminates by a transverse horizontal part which bears on the bottom of the U when in the locking position.

Preferably, in order that the partial totalizing device may be reset to zero, the teeth of the pawls associated with its ten teeth ratchet have their transverse horizontal parts inclined with respect to the bottom of the U teeth, so that they perform their locking function when the partial totalising device is normally running, while allowing, by being lifted, the resetting of said device to zero. g

The following description, with reference to the accompanying drawings, given only by way of non limitative example, will enable the particular features of the invention to be readily understood. In the drawings:

Figures 1 and 2 are perspective views respectively illustrating each of the pressed discs which, when assembled, will constitute a drum.

Figure 3 is an' elevation, partly in section, of the drum assembly constituted by the pair of discs illustrated in Figures 1, 2.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged side view of a portion of a drum having ten ratchet teeth and. one which is a part of a totalizing device.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged side view of a portion of a drum having ten ratchet teeth and which is a part of a partial totalizing device.

Figure 6 is an elevational view at smaller scale showing the drum locking means.

Each drum is made by putting and securing together two similarly pressed discs I, 2. Each disc I or 2 is shaped as a bowl with a projecting central part, so that the flat bottom 3 of that bowl consists of a ring comprised between two conical walls 4, 5, the apices of the cones being on opposite sides with respect to the disc. The central projecting part is flanged at 6 so as to provide a plane ring I which will work as a friction surface for the rotational driving of the drum.

The flat outer edge of the bowl is cut out so as to form a ratchet 8 having ten teeth (Fig. 1) or as to afford a single tooth 9 (Fig. 2).

Each tooth of the ratchet 8 is cut out in the general shape of a U, the sides of which extend radially with respect to the drum. A circular shoulder I0 is provided between the outer ledge of the bowl and the conical wall 4. Each disc is provided with a central circular opening I I and with a notch I2 in the conical wall 4. A slot I3 extend diametrically across the circular shoulder ID from the notch I2.

One disc with ratchet teeth (Figure 1) and one disc with a single tooth (Figure 2) are put together so that the corresponding fiat annular bottoms register. They are then secured together by any suitable means so as to form the side plates of a sort of hollow rim pulley (Figure 3) having a V cross-section.

The discs are put together by engaging perforated bosses l5 formed on one disc in corresponding openings M of the other disc, and riveting the assembly to secure the discs together (Figure 3).

The rim of the metal drum is made of a metal band IS on which digits are traced, said band resting on the circular shoulders in while their folded ends are engaged into the slots [3.

After being made up in the above way, the drums are mounted as usual on their common carrying axle. The teeth cooperated edgewise with a locking device consisting of a comb-shaped member I! the teeth l8 of which (Figure 6) are formed with transverse horizontal parts [9, said member being cut out of a thin resilient blade. The transverse horizontal part IQ of each tooth I8 engages, in the cooperating drum, a U-shaped tooth 8, the sides of which extend radially with respect to the drum, and hold securely the pawl thus constituted as long as it is not lifted by the single tooth 9 of the preceding drum.

Each pawl l9 normally locks one drum by engaging a tooth 8 of the corresponding ratchet (Figure 4). At the moment of carryin over, the single tooth 9 of the preceding drum pushes up pawl l9 which releases the tooth 8 of the ratchet of the drum which is to be moved one step forward. The latter is friction-driven in the direction of arrow at until the resilient pawl I9 is released by tooth 8 and. set free to engage next tooth 8 of the ratchet thereby preventing the drum again from rotating in any way.

If the drum is part of a general totalizing device which must never be reset to zero, such as illustrated in Figure 4, pawl i9 is tangent to the bottom of tooth 8. If however the drum belongs to a partial totalizing device, then, as it is desired to allow or a resetting to zero, the pawl 19a, as illustrated in Figure 5, makes an angle with the bottom of tooth 8 so as to lock the drum when it is urged in the direction of arrow 11, and to allow the drum to rotate freely when it is urged in th direction of arrow 2.

means defining a friction surface on each disk,

said drums being mounted coaxially in mutual frictional engagement, the surface of a disk having ten ratchet teeth abutting in frictional engagement the surface of a disk having a single tooth, a comb-shaped member having a plurality of resilientlteeth, each resilient tooth having a transverse portion, means for spacing said teeth so that said transverse portion engages the teeth of th disk having ten ratchet teeth and forms a locking means for said drum and means where by rotation of a next adjacent drum causes the disk side thereof Which has a single tooth to engage momentarily'the transverse portion of the resilient tooth to release it from the tooth of said disk having ten ratchet teeth thereon whereby rotation of said disk is effected by frictional engagement with the lateral surface of said onetoothed disk until the transverse portion of said resilient tooth engages the next ratchet tooth on said disk having ten ratchet teeth and forms a locking means therefor.

2. A register according to claim 1 for use as a total indicating device and wherein the transverse horizontal parts bear on the bottoms of the U-shaped teeth when in the locking position.

3. A register according to claim 1 for use as a trip indicating device and wherein the transverse horizontal parts are outwardly directed from the bottoms of the U-shaped teeth at an angle thereto in the direction of increasing digits whereby the resetting to zero of the drums is allowed.

CHARLES HILAIRE HENRI RODANET.

No references cited. 

